Author's Argument #2 (Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristoff & Sheryl Wudunn)

PRECIS:

          In Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn’s book “Half the sky” (2009) Kristoff and WuDunn questions why women die during/at childbirth and suggests investing in education. The authors first supports their claim by using stories of young teenage girls dying at childbirth and an example of Angeline, a smart young girl who could not afford education. However, they answer why women die in childbirth replying that women die because their pelvis are probably not wide enough for birth passage, they also used Angeline’s story to create sympathy for a young smart girl without an opportunity to get an education she deserves.  The authors conclude that women are not viewed as a significant factor. Their purpose is to provide a persuasive plea for women treated poorly and to end such abuse. The authors seems to have an emotional audience in mind because they develop a persuasive and passionate tone.

VOCABULARY:

·       Sacrilegious (94): pertaining to the violation of anything sacred.

·       Galvanized (95): to stimulate or treat.

·       Colostomy (96): the construction of an artificial opening from the colon through the abdominal wall. 

·       Horrendous (103): shockingly, dreadful, horrific.

·       Eclampsia (106): pregnancy complication

·       Grotesquely (113): odd or unnatural in shape, appearance or character. bizarre

·       Postpartum (118): noting the period of time following childbirth; after delivery.

·       Unmitigated (152): unqualified or absolute.

TONE:

Informative. Emotional. Persuasive.

RHETORICAL STRATEGIES:

·       Satire: “Preparation for death is that most Reasonable and Seasonable thing, to which you must now apply yourself” (93)

·       Rhetorical Question: “If the Koran can be read differently today because of changing attitudes toward slaves, then why not emancipate women as well? (152)

·       Epigraph: “DON’T BE A SUCKER! SAVE SEX FOR MARRIAGE” (137)

·       Alliteration: “The most common measure is the maternal mortality ratio” (98)

·       Metaphor: “As Edna roams the hospital, she’s like the weather in October: alternately stormy and sunny” (128)

·       Imagery: “Swimming with her, with all our clothes on naturally…in the Gulf of Aden at Berbera, in that warm turquoise water with pink mountains in the distance and her bodyguard marching up and down the otherwise absolutely deserted beach with his machine gun.” (129) “The jail is a single story compound behind a high wall in the heart of the city, without good towers or coils of barbed wire” (155)

·       Sarcasm: “if you think education is expensive, try ignorance” (167)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

·       Why did the authors use examples of women from places like China and Nigeria?

·       Why did the authors choose to use dialogues?

·       Why did the authors refer to a lot of studies and experiments?

INTERESTING, MEMORABLE QUOTATION:

“Your body is a wrapped lollipop. When you have sex with a man, he unwraps your lollipop and sucks on it. It may feel great at the time, but, unfortunately, when he’s done with you, all you have left for your partner is a poorly wrapped, saliva-fouled sucker” (137)